Each local officials association must make application for sanction each year with the FHSAA Office on a form provided by the FHSAA Office. A local officials association which fails to make application for sanction with the FHSAA Office, or to which sanction is denied, will not be permitted to assign officials to athletic contests in which FHSAA member schools participate.
2.112
A list of sanctioned local officials associations will be sent each school year to FHSAA member schools. Member schools may contract only with those local officials associations sanctioned by the FHSAA Office.
2.113
Proposed new local officials associations may not contact member schools regarding contracts for contests until sanctioned by the FHSAA Office.
2.120 RENEWAL OF EXISTING SANCTION
Local associations sanctioned by the FHSAA in the PRECEDING school year, provided they are in good standing with the FHSAA, may renew their sanctions if they meet the following criteria:
An association requesting renewal of sanction must properly complete and return to the FHSAA Office an Application for Sanction as a Local Officials Association.
An association requesting renewal of sanction must have on file with the FHSAA Office a copy of the IRS letter showing the association's name and the taxpayer identification number assigned to that name as well as a current copy of its constitution and bylaws.
The total number of member officials in the sport(s) for which an association is requesting renewal of sanction must meet or exceed the FHSAA's minimum membership requirements as set forth in Section 2.140 below. Associations that do not meet the minimum membership requirement in a specific sport will not be sanctioned in that sport.
An association sanctioned by the FHSAA in the preceding school year requesting sanction in a sport for which it was not sanctioned during the preceding school year must meet the criteria outlined in Section 2.130(e) below in the sport for which a new sanction is being requested.
2.130 REQUEST FOR NEW OR ADDITIONAL SANCTIONS
Associations that were not sanctioned by the FHSAA in the preceding school year may be sanctioned by the FHSAA if they meet the following criteria:
Such an association must successfully demonstrate to the FHSAA's satisfaction the need for sanction of a new association in its geographic area.
Such an association must properly complete and return to the FHSAA Office an Application for Sanction as a Local Officials Association.
Such an association must have a unique name (i.e. one that is not already used, or similar to one being used, by a currently sanctioned local association) and adopt and submit a proposed constitution and bylaws. The constitution and bylaws must contain provisions for election of officers, establishment of committees, recruitment of new and minority officials, training of member officials, procedures for assigning member officials to contests, procedures for recommending member officials for State Series assignments, and a procedure for addressing grievances made by member officials. The proposed constitution and bylaws must be approved by the FHSAA Office, and must be reviewed every five (5) years.
Such an association must provide to the FHSAA Office a copy of the IRS letter showing the association's name and the taxpayer identification number assigned to that name.
Final approval of sanction will not be forthcoming until the FHSAA has received a sufficient number of Applications for Registration as a Contest Official from individuals listing the applicant association as their primary association, such that the applicant association's membership will meet or exceed the FHSAA's minimum membership requirements set forth in Section 2.140 below. Applicant associations that do not meet the minimum membership requirement in a specific sport by the date of the FHSAA's first registration material mailing WILL NOT receive final approval of sanction in that sport. In the event final sanction is withheld, individuals listing the applicant association as their primary association on their Applications for Registration as a Contest Official will be asked to redesignate their choice of local association for the affected sport.
2.140 MINIMUM MEMBERSHIP REQUIREMENTS
2.141
In order to receive and/or renew a sanction for a given sport, local officials associations must meet the following minimum membership requirements: For sanction in the sports of baseball, soccer, softball and volleyball, 10 officials per sport. For sanction in the sport of football, 25 officials. For sanction in the sport of wrestling, five (5) officials. Local associations are sanctioned on a "by sport" basis, and membership totals in each sport will be computed as described in Item 2.142 below.
2.142
For sanctioning purposes, total membership in an association shall be defined as the total number of officials registered with the FHSAA who have designated the association as their PRIMARY local association in the specific sport(s) for which an association is sanctioned. This total shall be computed by the FHSAA after the administration date of the make-up examination in each sport, and be the basis for sanction renewal decisions for the next school year. Officials affiliated with an association on a secondary basis WILL NOT be counted as part of an association's total membership. Officials registered with an association in one sport WILL NOT be counted in another sport unless they also are registered in that sport.
2.200 Membership in Local Officials Association
2.210 OFFICIALS REQUIRED TO JOIN
All FHSAA officials must join and maintain membership in a local officials association which has been sanctioned by the FHSAA Office. Individual officials may not contract with or otherwise offer their services to member schools. Individuals making application for registration to the FHSAA Office for the first time may request and must be allowed to join a local officials association on a conditional basis until such time as the individual has been approved by the FHSAA Office.
2.220 NO OFFICIAL IN GOOD STANDING MAY BE REFUSED
Each local association must afford membership to any FHSAA official in good standing who requests to join the sanctioned local officials association. Membership to an FHSAA official in good standing may not be refused.
2.230 CONDITIONAL MEMBERSHIP FOR FIRST-TIME OFFICIALS
Only registered FHSAA officials, in good standing, may be given membership in a local officials association. However, individuals making application for registration to the FHSAA Office for the first time may request and must be allowed to join a local officials association on a conditional basis until such time as the individual has been approved by the FHSAA Office.
2.300 Obligations of Local Officials Associations
The FHSAA has assigned the following obligations to each local officials association.
2.310 EDUCATION OF MEMBER OFFICIALS
Each local officials assocation is responsible for educating FHSAA officials in the rules of the sport in which they will officiate. It is important that each FHSAA official has a thorough knowledge of the rules before he/she officiates his/her first contest and takes the FHSAA rules examination.
2.320 TRAINING OF MEMBER OFFICIALS
Each local officials assocation must hold a minimum of two training sessions for its member officials during the regular season. These training sessions should focus on application of the rules to specific situations and mechanics.
2.330 DISTRIBUTION OF MATERIAL
The FHSAA will provide to each sanctioned local association blank Applications for Registration as a Contest Official, Field Clinic Registration forms and individual registration materials and information (cards, patches, examination scores, promotional points data, fines notifications, etc.). It is the responsibility of the local association to distribute this material to its members. A schedule of material mailings is included in the Appendix of this guidebook.
2.340 CHANGES IN MEMBERSHIP
Local associations are responsible for informing the FHSAA of any changes to, or discrepancies on, the muster reports that the FHSAA provides to the local association. This information should be provided to the FHSAA as soon as possible. Local association membership lists should match the FHSAA's associatoin muster reports exactly.
2.350 REPORTS
Local associations are responsible for completing and returning to the FHSAA the end of season Varsity Games Worked Report by the applicable deadline. In addition, local associations wishing to renew their sanctions for the following school year and/or wishing to nominate one of their members as a candidate for election to the FHSAA Officials Advisory Committee must properly complete and return the appropriate forms to the FHSAA Office by the same deadline.
2.400 Committees
2.410 COMMITTEES ARE MANDATORY
Each local officials association is required to have an evaluation, assignment, recommendations, and grievance committee. These committees exist to ensure that each local officials association operates in a fair and democratic manner which is in the best interest of each of its member officials. Any exception to the committees as established herein must be approved in writing by the FHSAA Office.
2.420 COMPOSITION OF COMMITTEES
Neither an executive board member nor the assignment officer (booking commissioner) may serve as a voting member of any committee established herein. Only one of these officers may serve on a committee in an ex-officio capacity. No member may serve on more than one committee. An executive board member must recuse himself/herself if he/she is party to or otherwise involved in an appeal. Committees must consist of three or five members.
2.430 RESPONSIBILITIES OF COMMITTEES
2.431 Evaluation Committee
The Evaluation Committee is responsible for setting up the process and selecting those individuals who will assist with the evaluation of member officials within the local association. Each official with two or more years experience should be evaluated at least once during each season. First-year officials should be evaluated periodically throughout the season so that mini-clinics may be offered, if necessary, to re-enforce good officiating skills.
2.432 Assignment Committee
The Assignment Committee is responsible for overseeing the entire contest assignment procedure within the local officials association. This includes ensuring compliance with requirements on the composition of officiating crews, reviewing and approving each member official's schedule of assigned contests, and making the assigning officer aware of any corrections that need to be made before the assignment schedule is submitted to the membership. It is not implied that the Assignment Committee is to make assignments.
2.433 Recommendations Committee
The Recommendations Committee is responsible for reviewing the evaluations of each member official during the regular season. This committee is also responsible for preparing and submitting to the FHSAA Office a list of member officials who deserve consideration for assignment to State Series contests. The assignment officer (booking commissioner) should act on the recommendations of this committee.
2.434 Grievance Committee
The Grievance Committee is responsible for hearing complaints and appeals made or brought by one or more of its member officials. Member officials who have grievances because of penalties may appeal under the provisions of the local officials association's Constitution and By-laws.
2.500 Regular Season Contest Assignments
2.510 MUST BE MADE BE ASSIGNMENT OFFICER
The assignment of each member official to regular season contests must be made by the local officials association's assignment officer and approved by the association's Assignment Committee before being issued to the member official.
2.520 CRITERIA TO BE FOLLOWED IN MAKING ASSIGNMENTS
2.521
The criteria to be followed in assigning a member official to a regular season contest are:
The qualifications and ability of the official as determined by his/her FHSAA ranking, the official's performance on the most recent FHSAA rules examination, and evaluations of the official made by the local officials association;
No official may be assigned to work more than two home football games during a season for the same one school or more than four home games during a season for the same one school in any other sport;
If a local officials association permits a school with which it is contracted to scratch or other-wise request that a particular official not be assigned to work ts contests, the assignment officer must not assign that official to that school's home contests.
2.522
Assignments giving preference to a particular school or official are prohibited.
2.523
Crews assigned to officiate varsity level boys and girls contests must have one official with four or more years experience (Rank 1 or 2) unless a Rank 3 official is evaluated to be exceptional. The assignment of the referee for football should be a Rank 1 or Rank 2 official with a minimum of five years of FHSAA experience or its interscholastic equivalent.
2.524
Crews assigned to officiate junior varsity contests must have a minimum of one Rank 1 or Rank 2 official.
2.600 Officials Advisory Committee
2.610 RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE COMMITTEE
The FHSAA has established an Officials Advisory Committee to advise the Board of Directors on matters pertaining to the officials community. The committee shall meet annually to make such recomendations and forward such comments as it deems appropriate to the FHSAA Board of Directors.
2.620 COMPOSITION OF THE COMMITTEE
The Officials Advisory Committee wilI be composed of 11 elected members one from each sport in which officials are registered by the FHSAA. An additional member will be elected from each of the four sports with the most registered officials in the previous school year. Florida's representative to the National Federation Interscholastic Officials Association will serve on the committee in a non-voting capacity. In the event the FHSAA registers officials in additional sport(s), the number of second seat sports on the committee will be reduced to maintain the size of the commtttee at 11 elected members. Members elected to this committee after the 1998-99 school year will serve 3-year terms. The terms of members elected to the Officials Advisory Commrttee dunng the 1998-99 school year are described in Section 2.650.
2.630 NOMINATION OF CANDIDATES
2.631
Candidates for election to the Officials Advisory Committee must be FHSAA officials in good standing, be registered in the same sport as the seat for which they are being nominated, and be nominated by their primary local officials association. Each local officials association may nominate one official for each sport in which they are sanctioned by the FHSAA. No official may be nominated in more than one sport. Nomination forms will be provided to the local associations with the FHSAA Games Report Form. Nominations to the Officials Advisory Committee in each sport must be received in the FHSAA Office along with the FHSAA Games Report Form.
2.632
Local associations will not be eligible to nominate a candidate for the Officials Advisory Committee in a particular sport it they currently have a member of their association serving on the Officials Advisory Committee in that sport (i.e., a member of a particular officials association may not succeed another member of the same officials association in the same sport).
2.633
No official may succeed himself/herself as a member of the Officials Advisory Committee, either as the representative of the same or a different sport.
2.634
Officials nominated by their local association for election to the Officials Advisory Committee will not be placed on the ballot if they are not properly registered and in good standing with the FHSAA at the time the ballot is prepared or if their nomination does not meet one or more of the other provisions of the section.
2.640 CONDUCT OF ELECTIONS
Officials who are present at an FHSAA rules clinic and who are properly registered with the FHSAA at the time the votes are counted are entitled to vote for one representative in each sport in which they are registered. The FHSAA shall provide a ballot listing the valid nominees in each sport. Voting shall take place at the FHSAA rules clinic sessions in each sport. The candidate(s) (as applicable, in accordance with the provisions of Section 2.620) with the most votes in each sport shall be declared the winner(s). The votes shall be counted upon the completion of the final FHSAA rules clinic in each sport.
2.650 STAGGERED TERMS
To ensure that the terms of the members of the Officials Advisory Committee do not expire in the same year, the length of terms for the committee members elected during the 1998-99 school year ONLY shall be:
Three (3) years for the first-place candidates in the sports of football, baseball, basketball and soccer;
Two (2) years for the second-place candidate in the sport of basketball and for the winning candidates in the sports of softball, volleyball and wrestling; and
One (1) year for the second-place candidate in the sports of baseball, football and soccer.
